


Overload

by Dragon_Writes



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Autistic Peter Parker, How Do I Tag, Hurt Peter Parker, Kinda, Me? Venting through Peter Parker?, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Angst, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sensory Overload, Spiderson and Irondad, can I just say the Peter Parker tags are the greatest thing, don't think I need to though, first work for this fandom let's go, if I need to add tags please tell me I have no idea what I'm doing, it's more likely than you think, it's not stated but c'mon, tell me if there is though and I'll add a warning, uhhh I don't think there's spoiler for anything?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 04:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18732019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Writes/pseuds/Dragon_Writes
Summary: Peter woke up that day and immediately knew it was going to end in disaster.





	Overload

Peter woke up that day and immediately knew it was going to end in disaster. The blaring alarm grated on his ears, and the blinding light coming through the window was physically painful as he squinted across the room. Groaning, he barely gathered the energy to make his way out from under the covers after stopping the too loud alarm, and drowsily began picking through what clothes to wear that day.

Settling on a pair of jeans and a science pun shirt, along with a baggy pale blue jumper, Peter trudged downstairs. Judging by the silence, aunt May had already left for her shift. He took a moment to relish in the silence (desperately ignoring the hum of the fridge and sounds of the city outside) before grabbing his hastily packed bag and rushing out the door to the bus.

The loud, smelly, overwhelming bus.

Great.

The journey was mostly uneventful other than Peter’s intense concentration to block out all noise he possibly could. Not that it did much, he could still hear the yells and laughs of other students around him, drilling into his head with the bus engine and cars outside-

Nope, nope, focus on something else. Pay attention to the lyrics of the music blasting through his headphones and not the sick feeling in his stomach every time the bus gave a violent jolt. A loud ‘ping’ echoed through his head and made him grit his teeth as a notification came up on his phone.

Ned:  
I feel like I’m on death’s door, you’re on your own today dude

Wonderful. Peter barely held back a sigh of frustration at the thought of having to suffer through the already horrible day alone, and instead focused once again on the music in his ears, the only somewhat pleasant sound drowning out every other shrill noise.

The rest of the day wasn’t any better. In most classes he just kept his head down and tried to ignore the scratch of pencils on paper and the occasional gurgle of a stomach, squinting his eyes against the bright lights of the classrooms and resisting the urge to just shut himself away from the world. 

Thankfully it wasn’t the longest day in the world, even if he barely held back from violently flinching at the shriek of each bell, and by the final ring he was already half-sprinting out the door to escape from the uncomfortable shoving of everyone else in the corridor. The want to put his hands over his ears was rapidly growing by the time he exited the building, the sound of conversations along with the accompanying heartbeats of hundreds of people echoing through his brain and giving him a headache.

Happy’s car was just off to the side, and Peter didn’t think he had ever been more happy to see it, no pun intended. He immediately regretted throwing his bag onto the floor at the too-loud thud that left him wincing, but if Happy noticed he didn’t say anything. Peter didn’t miss how he closed the door more gently than usual though.

At some point in the drive he had managed to doze off, and when he awoke they were just pulling up to the tower.

“Thanks, Happy,” he managed to choke out, his voice raspy from lack of use during the day. His eyes burned from the sun as he stepped out of the overly-expensive car, and the few moments he’d had of not feeling ill at every sound came to an abrupt end. He stumbled into the tower and made his way to the elevator, every movement of his bag against his bag giving him an involuntary shiver and just adding to the pain of the day. 

“Welcome back, Peter,” FRIDAY’s voice greeted.

“Hey, FRIDAY,” he responded, trying to sound as though he didn’t want to just curl up under a blanket and forget he existed. “Where’s Mr. Stark?”

“In the lab, should I inform him you are here?”

“No, no, it’s fine, can you just bring me to the lab then?” The sound of his own voice was the equivalent of stabbing pins into his skull, and it was taking all of Peter’s energy to not have a complete breakdown in the elevator at the constant buzz of the machinery and electronics all over the building.

He should have just stayed home.

As Peter was reflecting on this mistake, the doors opened to the sight of Tony Stark leaning over a table, several mechanical parts strewn about as he stared down at them. Peter couldn’t see his face, but judging by how Mr. Stark hadn’t noticed his appearance yet it probably held a look of concentration.

“Uh, Mr. Stark?” he rasped. The lights were getting brighter with every second, and the hum of the whole building was rapidly becoming more and more overwhelming.

Too focused on trying to keep his breathing under control, Peter barely noticed Mr. Stark had come over until he spoke. “Oh, hey kid, I’ve just been adding some updates to the suit.” As he neared, he placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” Peter cried, scrambling away from the touch and barely registering Mr. Stark’s look of surprise. His senses had gone into overdrive, he could hear every movement in the room and around the tower, every creak from a piece of furniture and the buzz of all the machinery, it was too much and he couldn’t breathe and-

“Woah, woah, kid, can you hear me?” Mr. Stark’s voice cut through every other unbearable sound, momentarily grounding him again so he could faintly nod. “Uh, okay, just try and control your breathing with me, alright? In, and out, in, and out…”  
Peter didn’t know how long it took for him to properly take a breath in and could focus on only the room he was in. At some point he had curled up on the floor, he wasn't sure when, but as he calmed down and finally uncurled from his position on the floor the crushing realisation of what had just occurred hit him at once.

He’d just had a complete sensory overload in front of Tony Stark, and oh god he was never going to be seen as worthy to join the Avenger’s and he had just completely humiliated himself why did it have to happen then-

“Peter, hey, hey, don’t work yourself up again,” Mr. Stark was giving him a look of concern, crouched down to look Peter’s scrunched up form in the eyes. “Do you think you can stand?”

Peter honestly wasn’t sure, but at that point he was too embarrassed to admit it. Nodding, he struggled to his feet and managed to stand, albeit shakily, and tried desperately to stop his hands from trembling. 

Mr. Stark said nothing for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before giving him the most earnest look he could probably muster and said, “Pete, be honest with me here, do you want to go home?”

As much as Peter wanted to protest, to insist that he was completely fine and act as though he hadn’t just had a complete breakdown in front of his idol, by this point he just wanted to curl up in his bed and forget that the day had happened.

It appeared Mr. Stark had taken his silence as a yes, and had already began getting into one of his suits, the metal shining in the lab light. Peter shakily made his way forward and rested against the cool metal, a pleasant feeling over every other overwhelmed sense, and was promptly picked up as the two flew across the city to Queens.

Exhaustion once again catching up to him, Peter allowed himself to drift to sleep during the flight, the feeling of the wind against his face comforting after such an awful day. He didn’t wake up as Mr. Stark finally arrived at his and aunt May’s apartment, and didn’t stir as he was placed onto his bed and tucked under the covers.

The next time his own suit was updated, he found that the material lowered the intensity of light and noise, and noted how Mr. Stark gave him a faint nod as he marvelled at the upgrades, smiling ear to ear under the mask as the usually overwhelming world was finally dulled.

**Author's Note:**

> How obvious is it that I've never watched these movies? Okay before you try to kill me, I do know the gist of the universe, timelines, and characters, and I do plan on watching them as soon as I get the chance. For now I'm living off of clips on YouTube and after one video I have grown ridiculously attached to Peter, because honestly mood. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, comments and kudos are very much appreciated, and I hope you have a good day/night :)


End file.
